A moment later, I found myself flailing wildly as I fell through the floor or ground or space. I could hear the Canterlot Royal Family laugh at my expense yet again.
I was confused. Snapper was confused. Craft was confused. Everyone in the bloody room was confused. Was I the creature I had always believed I was? Or was I the denizen of a country whose ruler I had just tried to murder? Was my mother even really my mother? There were so many questions racing inside my mind and for the first time since I reached Canterlot, I felt doubt. I turned to my mother for answers again but she uncharacteristically seemed so unsure of the whole situation especially after what she just said.
"They're just messing with you" Craft said to me in the obvious hope that I wouldn't not let the "revelation" bug me. Unfortunately, I was too lost in my insecurity to even reply properly.
"What...this is impossible...." I told myself.
"Bālor, get your bearings in order. You're a changeling and you always will be. Don't let their little trick fool you" Snapper pleaded. Unbeknownst to him, Twilight had heard his remark and she had taken a bit of an offense to it.
"Trick? That was no trick!" she retorted, "That was a genuine spell from Starswirl's book".
"Look, I don't give a damn if this is a trick or not..." I growled as I broke free from my restraints using my magic, "Is this...a lie or is it the cold truth?" I narrowed my eyes at Chrysalis.
"Bālor...I-I..." she stammered, confirming my fears.
"Mom, they're just messing with me, right? I'm your one, true son, am I not?" I asked with hope. Hope that my mother would say "yes" and blast these ingrates to ashes.
Instead, all I got was silence and concern on her face. My eyes slowly widened when I saw tears forming in the corner of her beautiful eyes. The last time she shed tears was in the aftermath of Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding.
She had set out to find out an alternative source of love in order to ensure the survival of the entire hive but she returned with nothing but a feeling of failure. She locked herself inside her chamber to wallow in her sorrow and it was the first time I had ever seen or heard her cry. And trust me, nopony likes to see their mother cry.
But this time was different.
I watched as the first drop of tear splash onto the floor but yet I did nothing. I felt like I didn't need to. I had hopes that this was just some big magical mishap but my mother's and the ponies' reactions said otherwise.
"What the hell am I?" I asked her. I was tensing up as magic from somewhere flowed throughout my body.
"You're...my son" she barely managed to reply between sobs. I could see that most of the guards had withdrawn their weapons again while the princesses and Chris backed away slowly. The look on Chris' was a look of pure empathy and it almost seemed like he had this conversation with Celestia before.
Gingerly, I stood up on all fours, using the pillar I was previously tied to for support. The magic around me increased in power with every passing second and Twilight appeared to take notice of it as she approached me, only to be stopped by her brother.
"I wish I could believe you were right" I mumbled, gritting my teeth as emotions surged wildly within my mind.
"Capture her!" I heard Shining tell the guards. He looked like he had heard enough and he seemed determined to imprison us even if I wasn't a changeling at all.
The next second, four pairs of hooves grabbed my mom and pinned her to the floor while a spell from Celestia prevented her from wriggling free. Shining Armor shot me a final glare as I felt my restraints coming back on, pulling me back to the pillar. As I watched helplessly, my mother was tied up with half a dozen guards surrounding her, preparing to subdue her even more if she even dared to twitch.
To my sides, the two changelings were being slowly levitated towards Celestia. Snapper and Craft both gave me looks of fear and despair as if they were about face their inevitable fates. I suddenly thrust forward, only to be jerked back by the chains that held me. Just as seemed like they had finally got us, something happened.
A burst of light formed from my horn before it expanded, enveloping everything in a steadily increasing radius.
"What in Equestria...?" Snapper looked on in disbelief.
The need to save my friends and my mother was enough to make my magic go wild with enough power to illuminate the entire room in a flash.
However, the spell took an instant toll on my body as I slumped to the floor almost as soon as I casted it. My visions blurred and peaceful darkness surrounded me immediately.
"It's a telepo..." Twilight shouted. And that the last thing I heard before I blacked out.
"...did Chrysalis manage...he's not her son?"
A voice, presumably male asked. I couldn't see anything except for my own body as I was surrounded by an endless void of darkness. I was left with no memory as to how I even got to the place, almost like the amnesia you have when you're dreaming. No memory of how you arrived.
At first, I panicked at the idea that I might have been dead but I felt too strangely alive enough to believe that conclusion. I could also feel the presence of something or somepony else in the void. Almost like they were watching me.
"Her magic may have been just strong enough to make him believe he was a changeling" a distinct female voice replied, "Why, she even managed to manipulate your cousin".
"Who the hell's there?" I demanded to know. If waking up in a pitch black place wasn't bad enough, now I had these voices talking from who knows where.
I didn't get an answer for a good five seconds and it definitely creeped me out. In all honesty, I had actually wondered if I was starting to hear things. That was, until I heard a reply from a vaguely familiar source.
"Bālor? Are you awake?" the male voice, which unmistakably belonged to Chris asked.
"Chris? What the...where the bloody hell am I?" I asked back as I took up a fighting stance, just in case the prince or one of his near-omnipotent relatives tried to jump me.
"Calm down, my little pony" another voice said to me. This one belonged to Celestia and I could almost make out the disturbing mirth in her voice.
"Don't address me like I'm one of your subjects, mare!" I shot back, "I'm a prince dammit!"
The situation got a whole lot uneasier due to an almost sadistic chuckle coming from the Princess of the Sun. And to boot it all, I couldn't even see them.
"He reminds me of Blueblood if you ask me" Chris chuckled.
"Please, don't insult me by comparing me with that scum of Equestria" I said with a groan.
"For once, we agree on one thing" I could almost feel Chris give me a smile.
"You, Prince Bālor, are in a Dream Cell so we can interrogate you..." Luna addressed me, "..while your horribly burnt body is being slowly repaired by the best doctors in Canterlot".
"Say what?" I arched my eyebrow at the void, "I'm dead!?".
"You are" Luna calmly replied.
In an instant, I slumped to the floor or ground or space or whatever upon hearing the reply. I couldn't believe my own ears. I was actually dead. I had always expected my death to come at the hands of some magic-draining centaur but it was apparently a self righteous suicide, technically speaking.
Almost as soon as it came, the shock of death subsided, only for regret to fill the hole. Images of those back ay my home flashed in my mind. The technological Craft, the cautious Snapper and even the fun-loving and defective Willow. I regretted not having the chance to tell them how much they all meant to me.
My thoughts then went to those in Ponyville. My old classmates and my old buddies. I began to ponder what they were doing only to be interrupted by a snort.
"Was it *snicker* a bit too cruel, dear nephew?" Luna giggled.
"After what he tried to do? Maybe he kinda deserved it" Chris replied before he resumed chuckling. And then, it was a clear as day.
"Not funny" I let out a low growl, "Wait till me and my mother get our hooves on you", I threatened the trio.
A moment later, I found myself flailing wildly as I fell through the floor or ground or space. I could hear the Canterlot Royal Family laugh at my expense yet again.
After a few seconds, I landed right in the middle of a small room with a single see-through door. The next moment, a pile of kitchen sinks suddenly appeared outside as the door slowly opened.
"I really wish I was awake just so I can smash this hoof right in your faces" I mumbled, raising my hoof to emphasize my intentions.
"And I wish you were a bit more level-headed and realize that Chrysalis isn't your mother" Celestia said.
It didn't take much to take notice of the seriousness in her voice but it wasn't bothering me much. At least I could stop worrying about being tossed around for their enjoyment.
"You don't know anything about me or my mom!" I yelled as I slammed the door shut on instinct. I was getting tired of them trying to make me think otherwise.
"But we do" Celestia replied without any hint of emotion, "We know that Chrysalis destroyed a town two decades ago to dig up a Crystal Heart fragment, annihilating all the residents".
"Does Manechester ring a bell, Prince Bālor?" Luna inquired.
"Nope. And if my mom did destroy the town, it's probably a small sacrifice to pay for the sustenance of our kind" I replied. However, the word "Manechester" stuck to me. Why hadn't my mom or the others mentioned it?
"Let me ask you another question: Are you aware that you're a pony right now?" Celestia asked.
"Of course I am. What's that got to do with anything?"
"Bālor, I know this sounds strange but...this is your true self" Chris told me.
"Yeah, right" I sarcastically brushed it off.
"Think about it. Your mom said it was possible that you weren't a changeling and here you are, a true pony" Chris added.
"Just let that sink in" Luna advised.
"I don't give a baboon's ass about what you think" I crossed my hooves.
"Seriously, let me in!" I could hear someone cry out from outside.
"What the...?" I mumbled.
Suddenly, a nauseating feeling came over me as I fell to the floor. My visions started to blur again and I felt my limbs paralysed in place, leaving me laying motionless.
"Ask your mom if she remembers Manechester" Celestia gave me one last piece of advice before everything faded away.
"He's finally awake!" I heard Craft shout in joy.
With some difficulty, I managed to open my eyes. I looked around and saw that I was back at my home, The Hive.
The next thing I knew, I was hugged tightly by a black figure. I could feel her strands of hair brush against my chitinous face.
However, I didn't feel any love or concern my "mother" was showering. I could feel the false sense of power filling up again, a definite illusion to make me think that I was one of them.
"I thought I lost you, my son" Chrysalis looked at me with her tear-filled eyes.
"Manechester" I murmured.
"Huh? What is it? Is something wrong?" she asked me.
"The Crystal Heart fragment wasn't the only thing you took from Manechester that day, was it?" I looked at her dead in the eye.
And then, solidarity began to root itself onto me.